


felt your heartbeat and i thought i am free

by prettymalfoy



Series: single parent peter parker [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Hurt Peter Parker, Parent Peter Parker, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Single Parent Peter Parker, Teen Peter Parker, Teen parent, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29075298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettymalfoy/pseuds/prettymalfoy
Summary: “He’s a dramatic shit when he’s sick,” He chuckles as he tries to put Peter down on the bed. Pepper laughs as Peter tightens his legs around Tony’s waist and his arms around his neck, letting out a high-pitched whimper as he clings. “Alright, Bambi. I’m right here,” He shushes Peter, plants a kiss on the top of his head, and sits down on the bed with Peter still attached to him.---Or, Peter gets sick and the Avengers help babysit
Relationships: Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Harley Keener, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: single parent peter parker [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088966
Comments: 16
Kudos: 340





	1. Chapter 1

Harley moves into the tower on a Monday morning.

Tony has finally managed to convince him to move to New York after Mrs Keener rang the man to complain about the school he was in in Tennessee and how it wasn’t fulfilling his needs. He spends a few hours telling Harley about how he could go to the same school that Peter goes to, a school that would challenge and stimulate him, as well as give him the opportunity to conduct many more experiments. Any experiments he wanted to, really, because any he wouldn’t be allowed to do in Midtown, Tony tells him, he would be able to do in a lab in the tower. It doesn’t really take much to convince the kid to move; the offer of getting out of the dead end that is Rose Hill, a lab he could do experiments in, all the cars he could ever want to deconstruct and rebuild, and living a hell of a lot closer to his best friend. There was little keeping him in Rose Hill when Tony told him he would be able to visit his family when ever he wanted, and they could come up at any time and would always be welcome.

So, he moves in on a Monday morning. He and Tony spend an hour or so moving what little amount of stuff he brought with him into his room, and then spend a few hours tinkering about in the lab that Peter has agreed happily to share with the older boy. They are just getting comfortable in the sitting room, mid-afternoon, when the lift opens and Peter stumbles out. Tony frowns when he sees the way Peter’s eyes are dropping, the way he falters slightly on his feet. Leia is skipping next to him, chatting away about her day, grinning when her father reacts, however weakly, to whatever she’s saying. She follows Peter straight through the room, her eyes not leaving his face, straight into the kitchen. Neither of them notice Tony and Harley in the living room until Harley clears his throat.

“What, you too cool for your Uncle Harley, now, Leia?” The young girl snaps her head around quickly at the sound of her name, her face lighting up when she sees him.

“Harley!” She giggles when the teenager picks her up and spins her around, placing an excessive number of loud kisses on her cheeks. “Daddy! Harley’s here!”

“Yeah,” Peter murmurs, looking confused. “I thought you weren’t here until the twenty fourth,” Tony’s frown deepens.

“It is the twenty fourth, Pete,” He tells him. Peter just looks more confused. “How are you feeling? You don’t look too hot,”

“Gee, thanks, _Anthony_ ,” He bites sarcastically, sitting down between Tony and where Harley is on the couch, Leia on the older boy’s lap. He rests his head on Tony’s shoulder and lets his eyes close.

“Why don’t you take a nap, kid. We’ll watch Leia for a little bit,” Tony ignores the protests that come out of Peter and brings his fingers to card through the kid’s hair, smiling when his breathing evens out quickly.

Peter is still dead to the world when Pepper steps out of the lift a few hours later. She smiles when she sees Leia and Harley doing a jigsaw puzzle on the table.

“Hello, Harley, sweetheart,” She kisses his forehead before doing the same to Leia.

“Hey, Pep,” He smiles up at her and turns back to the jigsaw. Pepper’s smile drops when she turns and sees Peter sleeping, head pillowed on Tony’s thigh. She sits down next to her husband.

“How long’s he been asleep?”

“A couple of hours,” Tony frowns when he looks up from his phone, an expression that is mirrored by Pepper and not missed by Harley.

“Why are you doing that?” He asks. Tony looks up at him confused. “That thing with your face,” The man rolls his eyes fondly.

“He’s been sleeping a lot recently.” Pepper sighs. “May says he’s not been out patrolling since last Friday. He’s been going to sleep as soon as Leia has and hasn’t woken up until the morning,”

“Ned messaged me before. He slept through his study period and then through most of decathlon practice as well,” Tony offers.

“Are we sure this is Peter?” Harley asks seriously. “The one who regularly runs off three hours of sleep for like, four days? Are we sure he hasn’t been replaced?” Tony just rolls his eyes again.

* * *

Peter wakes up suddenly a few more hours later, his head now resting on Harley’s thigh while Tony puts Leia to bed. He moans at the pain in his stomach, before rolling off the couch and stumbling to his feet.

“Peter? You alright, man?” Harley gets to his feet quickly, following Peter out of the room.

“Gonna be sick,” Peter groans out just as he pushes the door open to the bathroom. He falls to his knees as soon as he’s close to the toilet, immediately emptying his stomach. Harley sits down on the edge of the bath where he can comfortably reach to rub Peter’s back comfortingly. Peter is just slumped against the toilet when Tony comes into the room, dropping something onto the countertop.

“FRIDAY said you weren’t having a fun time, kid,” Harley snorts when Peter just groans again. Tony smiles slightly while he kicks the older teen from his place on the edge of the bath so he can sit down. “Pep and Leia are about to read ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. I’m sure Leia would love for you to read it with her,” Harley looks between the still groaning teenager and the man.

“Will you be okay in here?” He asks softly. Tony just scoffs.

“Thank you but I am perfectly capable, you little shit,” Harley laughs as he gives Peter one more pat on the back before he leaves the room. Tony turns the taps on before helping Peter stand up. “Let’s get you cleaned up a bit, babe,” He helps Peter out of his t-shirt and jeans, leaving his underwear on, and lifts him to place him in the bath. It’s times like this that Tony is grateful for the spider bite making Peter weigh next to nothing.

Peter is groaning and moaning the entire time that he is in the bath, getting louder when Tony makes him change position so he can wash him. Tony just keeps hushing him and rolling his eyes.

“I never pegged you to be a drama queen, Peter,” He chuckles quietly when he manages to get all the shampoo out of Peter’s hair. He’s used the unscented one instead of the strawberry, not wanting to risk an overload while he’s sick.

“Hurts, Dad,” Peter moans, eyes squeezed closed, arms crossed over his stomach and hands balled into tight fists. Tony coos sympathetically and rubs a thumb across Peter’s cheek. The boy leans into the touch.

“I know, bud. I’ll go and get you something to help in minute-”

“Now?” Peter forces his eyes open, looking up at Tony through the tears. The man smiles at him.

“Okay,” He says, pushing himself up. “You get out and get dry. I’ve put some clothes on the counter for you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?” Peter lets his eyes flutter closed as he nods. “Try not to fall asleep, bambi,” Tony laughs. Peter groans as Tony leaves the room.

Tony finds himself routing through his own bathroom cabinet when he realises that anything he had in there probably wouldn’t work for Peter. He doesn’t even ask FRIDAY to check that they’re on their floor before he makes his way towards where Steve and Bucky live. When the door to the lift opens, he makes his way straight towards their kitchen, where he knows they keep their medicines.

“Alright, Tony?” The man jumps slightly, banging his head on the top of the cupboard he is is.

“Steve!” Tony’s voice is full of fake cheer as he rubs where he banged his head. He winces, the smallest movement. “You got any superhuman strength pain killers in here?” Steve pushes Tony out of the way gently, reaching to the shelf above where he was looking and pulls a box down.

“You realise they will knock you straight out, right?” Bucky asks from where he’s leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. “They’re like, five times as strong as you need.”

“It’s for Pete,” Tony says, and is immediately met with identical frowns from the super soldiers. “He’s fine, just a bit sick,”

“I thought he couldn’t get sick. You know, with the spider bite?”

“We didn’t think he could,” Tony sighs. “May said before the bite he got sick all the time, but since the bite he hasn’t had so much as a cough,”

“And now he’s sick,” Bucky states. His frown deepens when Tony starts to leave.

“Yeah. Pretty bad.” He makes it halfway to the lift before he pauses and turns his head. “If this isn’t cleared up by Wednesday morning, any chance you’ll be up for some babysitting? Leia doesn’t go to play group on Wednesdays, Harley starts at Midtown, and Pep and I are in meetings all day. Can’t really leave her alone with Pete while he’s so out of it, and she will be bored to death sitting in meetings with us,”

“Sure,” Steve says easily, nodding his head.

“Question. Are we babysitting Leia or Peter?” Tony laughs as he continues to the lift and enters. “Stark? Tony?” The door closes and leaves Bucky without an answer.

* * *

He goes back to the bathroom where he left Peter as quickly as he can. He smiles when he sees Peter dressed in the sweats and t-shirt Tony left him, slumped on the floor, falling asleep leaning on the sink.

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty,” He isn’t whispering, but he makes sure his voice is as soft as he can make it. Peter moans quietly as his eyes flutter open. “Got you some super soldier strength pills. Let me just get you a drink,” He laughs when Peter makes grabby hands up at him. He hands over the packet and turns to get the glass of water from the side. “Oh.” He sighs when he turns and sees Peter dry swallow two of the pills. “Or you could do that. Let’s get you to bed.”

He picks Peter up gently, letting the boy wrap his limbs around Tony’s body. He only takes a minute to contemplate, before walking straight past Peter’s room and towards his and Pepper’s. She’s sitting on the bed when he comes through the door. She smiles softly, her voice the same.

“How is he?”

“He’s a dramatic shit when he’s sick,” He chuckles as he tries to put Peter down on the bed. Pepper laughs as Peter tightens his legs around Tony’s waist and his arms around his neck, letting out a high-pitched whimper as he clings. “Alright, Bambi. I’m right here,” He shushes Peter, plants a kiss on the top of his head, and sits down on the bed with Peter still attached to him. “Leia and Harley okay?”

“Leia took little longer to get to sleep, but she did eventually. I think Harley is calling his mother, letting her know he’s settling in. You should call May, let her know what’s happening.”

“Yeah.” Tony sighs, threading his fingers through Peter’s hair. It’s beginning to curl at the ends. “I’ll call her in the morning.” He lays down gently, rearranging Peter so he’s curled into his side. Pepper joins him, curling into his other side. She rests her arm across Tony, her hand going to Peter’s hair. His face relaxes in his sleep. “We could totally handle a kid,” Pepper lets out a soft laugh.

“We’ve just acquired a third child, Tony.”

“What?” Tony’s eyes are closed, his voice laced with tired confusion. “We don’t have three kids. Do we?”

“No, I guess you’re right,” Pepper sighs. “I guess technically Leia is Peter’s child. We have two teenage boys and a grandchild,”

“You take that back!” He gasps. “I’m not old enough to be a _grandfather!_ ” Pepper laughs at the false disgust in Tony’s voice. Tony kisses Peter’s head.


	2. Chapter 2

Harley has always been a morning person. It used to annoy his sister a lot, when she was woken up before the sun with all the noise coming from his garage where he would be taking cars apart and throwing pieces around. It’s always been one of his favourite things about visiting New York and staying with Tony; he can get up whenever he wants to and potter around in a workshop, making as much noise as he wants to, music blasting and throwing car parts across the room.

“Mr Keener, Miss Parker is currently outside of the lab. Would you like to let her in?”

“Yeah. Thanks, FRI,” Harley throws the spanner in his hand down on the work bench to his side and turning towards the door. Leia pushes the door open and runs straight into Harley’s leg. He frowns when he sees her crying. “What’s up, pumpkin?”

“Can’t find Daddy, Harls,” Harley coos, bending down and picking her up. “Not in his room,”

“I think Daddy is with Tony, sweetie pie. Shall we go and check?” He smiles when Leia nods. She tightens her legs around Harley’s waist and brings the fingers of one of her hands to her mouth, sucking on them gently. When they get up to Tony’s bedroom, Leia knocks on the door.

“Come in, kid,” Tony calls. Harley pushes the door open, smiling at Tony. The man is sitting up against the headboard, StarkPad in his hands. Peter is sleeping next to him, bundled in a ball beneath the blankets.

“There he is, darlin’.” He says, bouncing the toddler on his hip, nodding at the lump on the bed. “Daddy’s just a little sick at the moment,”

“Sick?” Leia frowns around her fingers, eyes filling with confusion.

“Yeah. You know when you feel all icky and get hot?” Leia’s frown deepens and she shakes her head. Tony laughs.

“You got your Daddy’s immune system, huh?” He asks, standing up and pinching her cheek. “You want some pancakes before you go to play group?”

“Is Daddy coming?” She says after nodding. Tony smiles.

“Sure he is,” Peter doesn’t stir as Tony picks him up, carrying him bridal style. “He can sleep on the couch,”

Harley follows behind Tony but heads into the kitchen while he puts Peter down on the couch. Harley perches himself on the worktop, Leia still on his hip. He reaches into the cupboard above his head and pulls a capri sun out and handing it to her. She pulls her fingers out of her mouth and takes the drink.

“Right,” Tony says as he walks into the kitchen. He takes Leia from Harley’s arm. “I know Daddy makes the best pancakes, but he’s sleeping. So, you’ll have to settle for Uncle Harley’s,”

“Hey! Why do I have to make them?” Harley narrows his eyes. “Why don’t you make them, it’s your kitchen.”

“It’s yours too, now, Harley. You need to get used to it,” Tony smirks. “Plus, I’m a frail old man, you can’t expect me to slave away making pancakes.” Harley’s eyes narrow further.

“You just don’t want to be told your pancakes are shit, _old man_ ,”

“Shit!” Leia giggles on Tony’s lap. Harley’s eyes widen as Tony starts laughing.

“No!” Leia giggles as she keeps repeating the word. “Stop encouraging her!” Harley snaps at Tony, who just laughs harder. “Fuck, Peter is going to kill me!”

“Fuck!” Leia is still giggling. Harley groans and turns around, lifting ingredients out of the cupboards.

“You better like my pancakes after all this, trouble,” Leia’s giggling dies down slightly as she grins up at Harley. 

“So, what are you doing today, princess?” Tony and Leia talk about play group while Harley makes pancakes. When he turns around and hands Leia one on a plate, Tony has got toppings out and put them on the table. Leia frowns at the plate.

“What’s up?”

“Daddy doesn’t do them like this,”

“Okay,” Harley sighs patiently. “Well, how does Daddy do them?”

“Choc chips. Lots,” She says. Harley nods.

“Okie dokie. Here you go, old man,” Harley pushes the plate in front of Tony. The man frowns. “What?”

“Peter doesn’t do them like this,”

“Tough shit.” He says as he turns back around. He bangs his head on the cupboard when Leia repeats him.

“Serves you right, Keener.”

* * *

“Alright, bug. If Daddy is feeling better, he’ll come and pick you up. If he’s still feeling icky, I’ll come and get you, okay?” Leia sniffs slightly, kicking the mud with her feet. “I’ll even get you ice cream to make up for it,” He offers, crouching down in front of her. He pokes her cheek when she just sniffs again. “Come on, Princess. We haven’t had ice cream together for _months_ ,” He keeps poking until Leia sighs. She nods up at him. “Goodie. I’ll see you later, darlin’. Have a good day!” Leia turns and waves to him, smiling sadly.

Happy takes Harley back to the tower.

* * *

“Did she get off okay?” Tony asks when Harley walks into his lab. Peter is still asleep, laying on his front on the sofa at the side of the room. DUM-E is hovering around him, squeaking in a way that Harley suspects is nervous.

“Yeah,” Tony pushes Harley’s hands away when he starts fiddling with the tech Tony is trying to fix. “She was a little sad, but she wasn’t any trouble,”

“She never is,”

“What about him?” Harley nods his head across to Peter.

“He woke up just after you left,” Tony spins on his chair as he sighs. “I gave him one piece of toast. He had two bites of it, threw it up immediately, and went back to sleep,” Harley wrinkles his nose.

“Have you told May yet?”

“Yeah,” Tony laughs humourlessly. “She said she was getting on the next plane out. I managed to convince her that he’d be fine. There’s plenty of us here to babysit him,”

“He’d kill you if he knew you called it _babysitting-”_ Harley is cut off by Tony’s phone ringing. He sighs when he picks it up.

“Good morning, Mrs Potts,” He smiles into the phone. As Pepper talks on the other end, his smile begins to drop. “Do you remember, years ago, when I signed the company over to you? That was so I didn’t have to deal with people like that. Yes, I know that but-” He huffs, scratching his cheek. “ _Pep,_ come on, I- fine, I’ll be up in a few minutes,”

“What’s up?” Harley looks up from where he’s started pulling apart one of Tony’s old suit’s missile launchers when the man throws his phone down on the workbench.

“Some company want me to be involved with the trade. God, conference calls are the _worst,_ ” He complains. He fiddles about with some stuff on his bench for a few minutes, trying to put leaving for as long as he can. He only gets a minute before FRIDAY sets off an alarm. “Jesus, fine, I’m going!” He curses, dragging his feet over to the door. “Will you be okay with Pete until I come back?”

“As long as you’re back in time for me to go and get Leia,” Harley answers without looking up.

“I should be,” Tony nods. “If I’m not, just tell FRIDAY to get Sam to cover or something.”

“Sure thing, old man. Enjoy your meeting,” He waves a hand over his shoulder, still pulling parts off the launcher.

“Conference call.” Tony corrects miserably.

“Whatever, Tony. Goodbye,”

“You’re a little shit, Keener,” The door slams behind him.

Harley stays in the lab for another two hours before Peter wakes up again, a loud groan letting Harley know.

“How you doing, sweetheart?” He asks, crouching down in front of him and pushing the hair out of his face. Peter just groans louder. “Understood.” Harley nods. “Do you think you could keep down some soup?”

When Peter doesn’t answer any more than blinking at Harley, the older boy picks him up and carries him out of the lab and up to their floor. Peter falls asleep again on the way up and Harley lets him be as he makes the soup. He follows his Ma’s recipe, one that she used to make in bulk that would feed them for a week. He knows Peter loves the soup, enough so that last time he was down in Rose Hill he begged Harley’s Ma for the recipe.

“Come on, babe,” Harley sets a bowl of soup down on the table and pokes Peter’s side. His eyes open slowly. “Come on, sit up for me,” Peter just groans and tries to roll over. Harley sighs. “Pete, come on, you gotta eat something. You love Ma’s soup,” Harley put his hand on Peter’s shoulder to block the turn, so Peter just pulls the blanket up and over his face. Harley pulls it back down with a sigh. “Peter Benjamin, I will force it down your throat,” Harley looks up when he hears a laugh.

“Having fun?” Harley narrows his eyes at Tony.

“You do it then,” He says, standing up and moving out of the way. “If this is so funny,” Tony rolls his eyes and moves over to the couch. Peter takes one look at Tony and pulls the blanket back up over his face. Tony sighs and yanks the blanket away completely.

“Up we get,” He says, slipping his hands under Peter’s armpits and lifting him up. Peter groans again, glaring weekly up at Tony.

“Not cool, Mr Stark,” He mumbles, voice raw. Tony smiles and sits down on the table. He holds the bowl in one hand and lifts a spoon up to Peter’s mouth with the other. The teenager clamps his lips shut and turns his head away. “Don’t wanna,”

“You want me to call Aunt May again? I’ll tell her that she _does_ actually need to come back early from her super fun trip to Italy because her seventeen-year-old kid is being a baby,” Peter glares again. Tony knows that, realistically, if he called her and did say that Peter was being a pain, May would be on a plane back in a heartbeat. He also knows, though, that she wouldn’t leave Peter’s side until he was better again, and yes, okay, maybe he and Harley have been doing that since he got home yesterday, but they’re not being as overbearing as May would be. He loves the woman, but she hasn’t seen Peter sick since he was a kid and would likely treat him the same way as she did back then.

Peter whimpers when Tony holds the spoon back up to his mouth.

“Don’t wanna be sick again,” He mumbles, wet eyes blinking up at the man. Tony sighs softly.

“I know, kiddo. But you haven’t eaten for almost a day, and with your metabolism I can’t imagine that feels great. You need nutrients, Pete, so it’s Mrs Keeners soup, or an IV line. It’s your choice,” He holds the spoon up again. Peter doesn’t open his mouth, so Tony rolls his eyes and turns to Harley. “Go and get Bruce, would you?”

“No!” Peter’s voice cracks. “No needles. I’ll have the soup, please don’t get the needles,” Tony nods smugly as he holds the soup up again, smiling when Peter opens his mouth.

He finishes half the bowl before he starts moving his head away again. “Noooo,” He groans.

“Are you sure you can’t handle two more spoons for me, Pete?” Tony sighs when Peter shakes his head quickly.

“Please don’t make me,” He puts the bowl down on the table again and moves to sit next to Peter. “Don’t wanna be sick,” He repeats. Harley settles on Peter’s other side, sitting on the arm of the couch. Tony cups Peter’s cheek with his hand, brushing his thumb over the cheek bone.

“That’s okay, kid. You did good,” Peter beams up at Tony and rests his head on his shoulder. “Think you should stay awake for a bit though,”

“But I’m tired, Dad,” Peter whines. Harley snorts.

“You’re such a baby when you’re sick, Pete,” Peter frowns and glares at Harley half-heartedly.

“Don’t be mean, Harley,” Peter smiles at Tony, who just smirks. “You can’t bully babies.”

“Betrayal! I’m being-” Peter is cut off when he begins coughing. Tony pats his back until he stops, frowning. “’m so tired,”

“I know, baby,” Tony coos. “Just try and stay awake for me. Two hours, and then you can nap. I’ll even watch that show you’ve been pestering about me watching with you,” He bargains. Peter looks up hopefully.

“What show is this?”

“Manhattan 3-3,”

“Brooklyn 99,” Peter corrects as he rolls his eyes, burrowing into Tony’s side. Harley gasps dramatically.

“You haven’t seen Brooklyn 99?” He asks incredulously. “This is terrible. We have to fix this.” He smiles when Peter nods.

They get through four and a half episodes before Peter stands up suddenly. Tony barely has time to ask if he’s okay before Peter runs towards the bathroom. He follows close behind, sitting on the edge of the bath, rubbing Peter’s back.

“Peter, buddy,” He starts slowly, keeping his hands moving, trying to comfort him. “I’d really feel better if you let me set you up with an IV,” Peter whimpers softly. “I know, I know, babe. But you haven’t kept anything down today and it can’t be good for you. You can’t starve yourself because then you’ll never get better,”

“Okay,” Peter’s voice is barley a whisper, but Tony still hears it. The kid reaches around blindly on the sink from where he’s still bent over the toilet until he grabs a toothbrush. Tony hands him the toothpaste to go with it.

“Thank you, kid. Who would you feel most comfortable doing it? I think Bruce, Steve, and Sam are the only ones here at the moment who can do it,” Peter spits into the bowl.

“Can’t you do it?” Tony shakes his head apologetically.

“I don’t have the training to do it properly, bucko. Otherwise, I probably would have done it last night. You want me to choose?”

“No,” Peter moans around the toothbrush in his mouth. “I- Sam. Please,”

“Okay bud,” Peter feels Tony lifting him and is vaguely aware of him asking FRIDAY something, but he’s just drifting in the safety of Tony’s arms. He doesn’t realise he’s fallen asleep again until there is someone shaking his shoulder. He blinks his eyes open.

“Hey, pipsqueak,” Sam’s voice is gentle in a way Peter has never heard before. “Can you roll onto your back for me? That’s it,” Peter doesn’t flinch when cold gloved hands turn his arm over, so his hand is palm up. He doesn’t even flinch when Sam reaches for the needle, just closes his eyes and whimpers slightly. “Deep breath for me, kiddo,” Peter whimpers again. The tears start to fall the minute the needle is in his arm. Harley squeezes his hand.

“You’re okay, darlin’. You’ll feel better when you’ve got some nutrients and stuff in your body,” Peter sobs loudly when Sam finishes with the IV.

“Hurts,” He whispers, looking up at Harley. Sam places a hand on his shoulder.

“You did great, bud. You’re okay. You can go back to sleep now,” Peter whimpers when Sam’s hand moves up to his hair.

“No,” He moans, bringing his hands up to try and push Sam’s away. “No, I don’t…don’t wan...”

“That really works, huh?” Harley asks, looking at where Peter was now soundly asleep. Tony smiles down at him fondly.

“Every time,” Sam snorts as he stands up. He peels his gloves off and packs up his kit.

“I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, Tony, give us a call, yeah?” Tony nods, not looking at Sam.

“Yeah. Thank you,”

“No problem. Good to see you again, Keener,”

“You too, Bird boy.” Harley grins as Sam rolls his eyes before the lift doors close in front of him. He glances down at his phone before standing up. “I told Leia I’d take her for ice cream. Do you want any?”

“Nah,” Tony doesn’t look up from Peter as he speaks. “Stay safe,”

* * *

Harley isn’t offended when Leia looks disappointed to see him picking her up. She stays quiet while Harley talks to the teacher, playing with the ends of his hair.

“Right!” He says when the teacher finishes talking to him and goes to a few parents. “You ready to go?”

“Where’s Daddy?” Leia asks, pouting slightly.

“Daddy’s still sick, sweetums. But I promised someone ice cream. Uncle Tony said he didn’t want any, but he’ll expect us to get him some anyway, because he’s a spoiled brat. And we can get some for Daddy too, for when he’s feeling better. He likes ice cream, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah,” She nods. “He likes having all the tops,”

“Of course, he does,” He mumbles under his breath, before grinning at Leia. “Let’s go, then, sweetie pie,”

When they get to the ice cream parlour, he lets Leia choose Peter’s ice cream. She goes for the chocolate one and insists that the server puts every single topping they have available in the tub with it. She chooses cake batter for herself and demands that Harley gets the bright blue bubble-gum flavour. Harley chooses for Pepper and Tony, getting them mint and hazelnut. Harley carries most of the ice cream while they walk back to the tower, Leia still on his hip, happily eating her ice cream while talking to Harley, occasionally holding the spoon out for him to have a bite.

He walks her through to the kitchen when they get back to the tower, putting Peter’s and Pepper’s ice cream into the freezer.

“Oi!” Tony calls through from the living room. “Where’s my ice cream, Keener?”

“You said you didn’t want any,” Harley calls back through, winking at Leia. She giggles from where she’s sat on the counter, holding Tony’s pot of ice cream.

“So you _didn’t_ get me any?” Harley laughs as he lifts Leia up and sets her on the floor. He pats her shoulder, and she runs off towards Tony, Harley following behind. “Thank you, babe. At least someone loves me,”

“Harls told me you said you didn’t want any, but we got you some anyway ‘cause you’re spoiled,” She climbs up into Tony’s lap as he gasps dramatically.

“Harley Keener, calling _me_ spoiled? Do you think he’s ever looked in a mirror, Leia?” Leia giggles. Tony rearranges her slightly so she’s sitting sideways on his lap, facing Peter.

“Daddy still napping?” Tony nods. “Wha’s that?” She points to the IV bag.

“You know how you eat food because there are lots of good things in food that help your body?” Harley asks her. “Well, because Daddy is asleep, he can’t eat, so this is giving his all the goodness from the food while he naps,”

“Oh.” She nods once, before turning to face Tony. “We got him ice cream for when he wakes up,” She informs him, smiling.

“With all the toppings?” She nods proudly. “That’s very nice of you, sweetie. I’m sure he’ll love it,”

“Right then, munchkin. What do you and Daddy normally do on Tuesdays?” Harley asks, smiling when Leia looks up to the ceiling as she thinks.

“Daddy does his homework and then we play legos,”

“Well, then.” Harley says standing up. “I’ll go and get the legos,”

“Not the small ones!”

“Yes, thank you, Tony, but I’m not an idiot,” Harley comes back into the room dragging a large tub of legos behind him, with Bearbear sitting on the top. Leia picks him up as Harley places the box in front of her and Tony. “Thought we could make Bearbear a spaceship,”

“So he can go zoomin’ around the stars?” Leia asks excitedly. She slides off Tony knees and sits next to Harley.

Tony helps them draw out a plan for their ship, telling Leia that if she’s going to build things like Daddy does, she’s got to draw proper designs, so she doesn’t end up making things explode like he does. Harley is only mildly concerned when she makes a disappointed noise at the prospect of not making things explode.

Tony has just taken Leia into the kitchen to get a drink when Peter starts to thrash around. He kicks his legs, the blanket twisting between them.

“You okay, honey?” Harley asks, standing up and untangling the blanket, draping it over the back of the couch.

“Hot,” Peter moans, still kicking his legs, managing to kick his sweats off. They fall to the floor. The IV comes out of his arm when he pulls the t-shirt over his head, throwing that to the floor as well. He sighs in relief and is still for a few seconds before his face scrunches up. He rolls off the couch and lands on the floor.

“Jesus, Pete,” Harley moans. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you just throw yourself on to the floor,” Tony laughs as he comes into the room, seeing Peter lying face down on the floor in just his underwear.

“Alright down there, underoos?” He asks, kicking Peter’s hip gently as he steps over him. His voice is muffled when he replies.

“’m so good.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for this chapter, there is a mention of death/dying, but no-one dies. read w/ caution;)

Peter collapses on their couch as soon as he is in Steve and Bucky’s living room the following morning.

“Okay,” Peter can hear Tony rolling his eyes as he speaks to Steve. The other super soldier isn’t in the room yet. “Harley and I figured out it’s mainly babysitting Pete as this point. Leia is an angel, aren’t you, sweetness?” Leia giggles and Peter smiles into the couch. He scowls when Tony continues talking. “Daddy, however, is a brat,” Leia tugs on the fabric of Steve’s pants, smiling when he bends down and picks her up.

“Morning, honey,” He smiles as he settles her on his hip.

“So,” Tony continues. “He spent basically all day yesterday sleeping, so if you could keep him awake as long as possible, that would be wonderful,” He sighs when he hears Peter whimper, muffled by the couch. “No, Pete. You’ve gotta stay awake,”

“Mean,”

“I see what Sam means,” Bucky sighs as he sits down on the couch by Peter’s head. Peter jumps slightly, not having realised he’s entered the room. “He is a right baby when he’s sick,”

“Yeah,” Tony laughs lightly. “We put two IVs in yesterday. The first one came out when he threw himself off the couch, and he pulled the second one out after 5 minutes. I don’t know whether he was _aware_ ,” Tony pauses slightly. “When he did it, but he’s definitely more awake today and I don’t want to force him to have another one when he might be capable of eating himself. However, with him being more awake he’s also more aware of the pain he’s in,”

“And is he likely to eat himself?” Steve asks.

“Not sure.” He frowns when Tony shrugs. “I’ve told FRIDAY to let you up to our floor if you need to, in case you need to get anything for Leia or anything. Harley made some soup and there’s some in the fridge if he doesn’t eat anything solid,”

“Thanks, Tony,”

“And if you need anything else, just ask FRIDAY. Or call me, if you fancy getting me out of my meetings I will not complain,”

“Yeah,” Bucky snorts. “And make Pepper mad at us? I don’t think so, Stark,”

“Scary,”

“Yeah, buddy,” Bucky coos, stroking Peter’s head. When Peter’s eyes start to droop, he moves his hand and pokes his cheek instead. “Sorry, pal, you gotta stay awake for a bit,”

“You’ll be good, Pete, yeah?” When Peter doesn’t respond, Tony rolls his eyes fondly. “Leia, Harley will come and see you when he gets home from school, okay? You’ll be okay with Steve and Bucky until then?” He smiles at Leia, who has climbed so she’s sitting on Steve’s shoulder. She rests her hands on his cheeks and smiles back at Tony.

“Yeah, Uncle Tony,” Tony grins at her, fiddling with his shirt cuffs. He looks up at Steve.

“If you need anything-”

“We’ll be fine, Tony.” Steve smiles, lifting Leia off his shoulders and settling her back against his hip. He walks with Tony towards the lift. “We’ll contact you if we need anything. Go to your meetings,”

“Have fun!” Bucky calls through.

“I’ll try my hardest,” He snorts. Steve rolls his eyes when he hears Bucky snickering. “Don’t be a pain, Peter! See you later, darling,” Leia giggles when Tony kisses her cheek, waving at him until the lift is long gone. Steve rocks her gently as he walks back into the living room.

“You fancy doing some painting, Leia?” She nods and claps her hands together. Bucky groans.

“What? So you’re going to go and hide away in your studio and I’m stuck here watching this little shi-” He groans when Peter untangles an arm from under the blanket and blindly punches. “Ow, Jesus, pal. Even sick you have one hell of a punch,”

“Shit!” Leia laughs happily. Peter punches again.

“I didn’t say it!” Peter frowns as he lifts his head up, looking up at where Bucky is rubbing his thigh. He groans as he puts his face back into the couch.

“I’m going to kill Harley,” Steve laughs, placing Leia down. She runs straight over to Bucky, who immediately lifts her onto his knees.

“If you don’t want to be left alone with Peter, we’ll bring the painting stuff our here.” Steve reasons. “It’s you that complains that I might get paint everywhere, which I never have, by the way,” Leia tugs lightly on Bucky’s hair.

“Juice, Buck?”

“Sure thing, doll,” He smiles, standing up. “I’ll take her up to get some juice and stuff. If there is even one drop of paint on this floor, you’re sleeping on the couch,” He smiles when Steve rolls his eyes and heads into his studio. “Pete, I want you sitting up by the time we’re back down. If you’re not, I’m going to tell Pepper you were being a pain,”

Peter rolls his eyes at Bucky, letting them fall shut when the lift closes and starts to whirl as it moves. He doesn’t know if he falls asleep, but the next thing he knows, Steve is shaking his shoulder.

“How you doing, Queens?” Peter blinks up at him, before he buries his face back into the couch and groans loudly. Steve laughs. “I know, bud. You’ll feel better if you sit up for a bit,” When Peter does nothing more than groan again, Steve rolls his eyes and drags Peter into a sitting position, hands under Peter’s armpits, propping him up with the pillows. “You wanna watch Star Wars?” He asks as he tucks Peter’s blanket around him.

“When I die, will you let Tony know that he and May have joint custody over Leia? It’s written in my will,”

“You’re seventeen, Pete, why do you have a will?” Steve asks, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. “Actually, I don’t want to know. You’re not dying, Peter, you’re just a little bit sick. You got sick before the bite and you never died then,” Peter moans and closes his eyes. “No, come on, kid. You can nap when Leia does,” He bargains as he taps Peter’s cheek until he opens his eyes again. He nods when he does and goes back to setting up his art supplies.

Bucky and Leia come back a few minutes later, Leia sitting on his shoulders and drinking a capri sun.

“Good, you’re up,” Bucky says. He’s carrying a box of Leia’s drinks and snacks in his arm, with a small pot on the top.

“Hi, Daddy!” Leia says around the straw of her drink, waving at Peter as Bucky walks towards the kitchen. He crouches down in front of the couch before he gets there, and she slides off his shoulders.

“Hey, princess,” Peter smiles softly.

“Okay, pumpkin. You ready?” She beams up at Steve. He grins back and holds up one of his t-shirts. “You’re wearing a _very_ pretty dress, and I’m sure Daddy would be upset with me if I let you get paint on it, so this is going over your dress,” Bucky laughs lightly at the confused look on Leia’s face.

“It means you can get paint on it. You can get all messy without worrying about your dress,” Leia looks confused for a few moments longer before her face clears and she holds her hands up above her head for Steve to slip the shirt on. It fits over the dress completely, the short sleeves over her elbows and the bottom of the shirt touching her shins.

“I’m serious, Rogers,” Bucky comments as he sits back on the couch. He drops the pot that he brought in with Leia’s stuff on Peter’s bent knees. “One spot on the floor-”

“Yes, yes, the couch, I know, Buck,”

“Good. That’s ice cream, by the way.” He tells Peter and nods to the pot. “Leia and Harley got it for you yesterday. Get some sugar in your system,”

Peter eats the ice cream slowly as he watches Leia painting, a nature documentary series that he and Bucky had started watching playing in the background. His eyes drift shut every so often, and every time Bucky stretches his foot out to kick his side, making sure he’s awake. They get through three episodes of the documentaries before a sudden wave of pain hits him, stronger than the other ones he’s been feeling, and causes him to whimper softly. The two super soldiers’ heads snap up to him.

“You want some painkillers, kid?” Bucky asks. Peter opens his mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a strangled moan. “Okay, just give me a few minutes,”

Bucky comes back ten minutes later, packet of painkillers in one hand and a bowl of Mrs Keener’s soup in the other. “You finish the soup, you can have the drugs,” He says, handing Peter the bowl and sitting on the table in front of him.

“You can’t blackmail the kid into eating, Bucky,” Steve sighs. Bucky rolls his eyes at the disappointed look on his face.

“Sure I can. It used to work with you in Brooklyn,” Steve is quiet for a few moments before he nods his head and turns back to his paintings.

“Fair enough. You should eat, Peter. He won’t leave you alone until you do,” Peter rolls his eyes before lifting the spoon up to his mouth. Bucky nods when he swallows. He hands the bowl to Bucky when it’s halfway empty and runs out the room.

It’s only Steve left in the room when he drags himself back into the living room thirty minutes later. As soon as he’s through the door he drops to the floor in front of Steve.

“Put me out of my misery, Mr Steve,” He begs. “End me. Take away the pain, please,” He grabs the packet of painkillers off the table and swallows two dry.

“No, kid,” Steve sighs, taking the box away before he can take a third and fourth pill. “I’m not killing you. It’s a bug, you’ll be fine in a day or two,” Peter moans, crawling around the room until he settles in the corner above the door. Steve sighs again.

“You’re sighing a lot,” Bucky says as he comes back into the room. “Where’s Pete? I heard you talking to him,” Steve just looks back up to the ceiling. “Ah. Whatcha doing up there, Peter?”

“Sleep,” Peter mumbles, curling up on himself and closing his eyes.

“Okay,” He nods easily. “Leia, you ready for your nap?” She shakes her head from where she’s falling asleep in Bucky’s arms. Steve chuckles.

“Can we watch Fr’zen?” She murmurs into Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky nods again and carries her over to the couch. Steve follows, sets the film up, and sits down next to Bucky. Leia shifts so she can see the film, wiggling until her head is in Bucky’s lap and her legs across Steve’s and Bucky tangles his fingers through her hair.

* * *

“How long has she been napping?” Is the first thing that Harley says when he comes into the room. Steve looks up from the screen.

“Since about five minutes into Frozen,” He answers.

“And what? This is the sequel?”

“Buck was enjoying it,” Steve sighs. He rolls his eyes when Harley raises an eyebrow. Harley sits down on one of the seats.

“Where’s Peter?” He asks. Bucky doesn’t look away from the screen as he points to the corner where Peter is still sleeping. “Oh,” He laughs. “How’s he been?”

“Did you know he has a will written?” Steve asks instead of answering. Harley raises an eyebrow. “He mentioned it. He said he was dying,”

“Ah,” They sit in a comfortable silence, film still playing in the background, until Leia starts to stir. She blinks a few times before her eyes clear, and she slides off Bucky and Steve and stumbles over to Harley. He laughs when she crawls into his lap. “You’ve got paint in your hair, darlin’,”

“Was paintin’ ducks, Harls,” She mumbles sleepily.

“I can see that,” He teases, looking over at the collection of paintings that are still drying by the windows. “Let’s get you in the bath before we have dinner, sweets,” He stands up and starts walking towards the lift when Steve calls to him.

“The others are coming down here for food in a bit. You’re welcome to join us. Pep and Tony, too, if they’re finished with their meetings,”

“Thanks, Cap,” Harley smiles and Leia waves as they step into the lift and go up to their floor.

* * *

Harley and Leia come back down to Steve and Bucky’s floor a little over an hour and a half later. Leia’s hair is fluffy from where Harley has dried it, and she’s dressed in her Iron Man pyjamas. He’d spent a good fifteen minutes looking for her Spider-man ones, hoping to cheer her up a bit after she got upset about not spending time with her father, but FRIDAY informed him that they were currently being washed. She reluctantly settles for the Iron Man ones.

Everyone else, minus Tony and Pepper, is on the floor now, gathered around the table that was covered in cartons from different take outs. Peter is still curled up on the ceiling. When they see Leia follow Harley into the room, they all light up. She makes her way over to Natasha.

“Hey, honey,” The spy crouches down and hugs Leia tightly. “What have you been doing today?”

“Painted ducks, Tash,”

“No way!” She gasps. “Can you show me them?” Leia grins and drags Natasha over to her paintings. Nat looks at each of them carefully, before crouching down again. “Don’t tell him I said this,” She whispers to her, just loud enough for the others to hear her. “But you’re better at painting than Steve is,” She hugs Leia again as the toddler giggles, picking her up and spinning her around gently. Tony and Pepper come out of the lift then, offering greetings to everyone.

“Hi, princess,” Tony smiles as he plants a kiss on Leia’s head. “Very nice Pyjamas. Where’s wonder boy?” He looks confused when Leia points to the ceiling, but he snorts when he looks up and sees the boy rolled into a ball. He turns to Steve. “Has he been sleeping all day?”

“No,” Steve shakes his head. “He managed to stay awake until about two. Then Bucky blackmailed him into eating soup and he threw up. He climbed up there and hasn’t moved since,” Tony snorts again and looks down at his watch before making a decision.

“That’s long enough. He needs to eat,” He sighs. He leaves the room into the kitchen and comes back moments later with a broom in his hand. He pokes Peter’s back with the handle. It takes a couple of pokes before Peter reacts, bringing a hand up to push the brush away from him. “Come on, kid,”

“Go ‘way,” Peter mumbles before he just pulls the brush from Tony’s hand and webs it to the ceiling. Leia giggles.

“You got a spray bottle?” Tony turns to Bucky, who nods and asks if he wants it filling. “Water, please,” Bucky is back with the bottle within moments, and hands it over to Tony.

“What’s he doing?” Leia asks Natasha from where they’re sat together on the floor with Clint.

“Tony’s just getting Daddy down so he can get something to eat, babe,” He explains patiently. Leia frowns.

“Going to hurt him?”

“No, sweetie. Steve’ll catch him,” Leia nods her head and Tony smiles at her reassuringly before he turns back to Peter. It only takes two sprays of water before Peter is scrambling to keep a grip on the ceiling. One more spray and he falls straight into Steve’s arms, groaning. As soon as Steve places Peter, now groaning dramatically, on the couch, Leia jumps up and runs towards him.

Tony scoops her up before she gets too close, shushing her softly when she whines.

“Don’t want you getting sick as well, buttercup,” He shushes her again when she whimpers, her eyes filling with tears. “I know, princess, but if you get sick, it means that you’ll have to wait even longer to cuddle Daddy because we don’t want him getting sick again. And that would make Daddy terribly upset because he misses cuddles just as much as you do,” Leia looks up at him, her lip wobbling. “And we don’t want you feeling all icky. _And_ Harley’s here! And we’re keeping him _forever_ so you can hang out and annoy him as much as you want!” She giggles, but it’s a wet sound.

“Come on, Princess,” Harley smiles, coming over and taking Leia from Tony’s arms. A tear falls from her eye. “Okay, I know I’m not as pretty as Daddy is, but you don’t need to cry about it,” Harley misses the eyebrow that Tony raises. Leia calms down slightly, but when Peter moans quietly she bursts into tears. Harley bounces her gently, cooing. “Come on. Let’s go and find Bearbear, you can give him all the hugs you wanna give Daddy,” Tony ruffles her hair when Harley walks past him and sends her a sad smile. When the lift doors have closed behind them, he turns to Peter.

“Up,” He says, kicking Peter’s foot. He groans and tries to kick him away. “You’re eating something. You’re getting better, I am not having a crying child in my tower,” He kicks him a few more times until Peter falls to the floor. The teen rolls over and glares at him.

“Kids cry, Mr Stark. It was going to happen at some point,” He coughs harshly before he flops back onto the floor. Sam and Bucky come up from behind him and pull him to his feet, sit him down and hand him a plate of food.

“Eat.” Tony tells him, staring at him until he lifts a spring roll to his mouth and eats it whole.

“He looks better than he did this morning,” Pepper comments quietly, placing an arm around Tony’s waist. “He looks more aware. Less pale,” Tony hums softly. He watches Peter from the side of the room, giving him space to eat what he wants and not put too much pressure on him. He walks over and crouches in front of him when Peter stops eating, a little more than half of the plate gone.

“How are you feeling, kid?” He takes the plate from him and places it on the table. “You think you’re gonna keep that down?”

“Yeah,” He clears his throat, wincing slightly at the roughness of his voice. “Yeah, I think,”

“Good. We’re gonna watch a movie,” Tony comments as he stands up. “Do you feel up for joining us?” Peter closes his eyes for a few seconds, thinking.

“Yeah. Sure. Can I go and shower first?”

“Course you can.” Tony smiles when Peter stands up and wraps the blanket around his shoulders. “Take your time, we’ll wait for you,”

Peter smiles before he makes his way out the room. He takes his time showering, scrubbing his skin of two days’ worth of sweat. He doesn’t bother drying his hair properly after he’s washed it and he’s out the shower, just leaves it to dry and curl naturally. He feels better, cleaner but still tired, when he stumbles back onto Steve and Bucky’s floor. Tony looks up as soon as he enters, patting the spare space on the couch between him and Pepper. Leia is sat on Harley, wrapped around him like a koala, on the floor leaning against the couch to the side of Pepper. Leia grins up at him as he sits down, holding up one of her teddies.

“You can cuddle Mr Bubbles,” She tells him, holding the teddy up until Peter takes it from her hands.

“Thank you, baby,” He smiles tiredly, blowing her a kiss. She giggles as she pretends to catch it. She turns back to Harley, not seeing Peter wipe the tears out of his eyes. “I love you, Princess,”

“Love you, Daddy,” She mumbles back, trying her hardest to keep her eyes open. Peter isn’t much better, settling down with his head on Tony’s shoulder, Mr Bubbles grasped tightly in his hand. His grip doesn’t loosen, even when he falls asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next time Peter wakes up, it takes him a few moments to realise where he is. It takes him until the sounds start to become less muffled and Sam is crouched in front of him, and he sees Natasha and Clint sparring behind him. He’s on the couch at the back of the gym.

“How are you feeling, trouble?” Sam asks. The gentleness in his voice is back. Peter opens his mouth to reply, to tell him that he’s feeling a bit better, his head is clearer, but all that comes out is a weak cough. “Still not great?”

“Meh,” Peter manages between coughs. Natasha frowns as she walks over and places a hand on his forehead.

“You’re not as warm as you were,” She muses. “Do you feel like you’re going to be sick?” She smiles softly when Peter shakes his head. “Do you feel better?”

“Clearer,” He mumbles. “Tired,”

“Sorry, Pete,” Clint says, amusement clear in his voice. “You’re not allowed to sleep now until tonight,” Peter makes a wounded noise. Clint just laughs.

“Pepper said to wait until you woke up on your own and then keep you awake,” Sam tells him. He chuckles lightly when Peter groans. He lifts his head up from the couch suddenly.

“Where’s Leia?” He asks, panic beginning to rise in him. He doesn’t know what time it is, but he knows she’s not here. He feels like he hasn’t seen her for days. He doesn’t know where she is, she should be with him, he should know where she is, he should-

There’s a hand on his shoulder.

“Clint took her to her play group, Peter. She’s fine,” Natasha’s voice isn’t loud but it’s clear. Calming. “You need to breathe for me, Peter. Leia’s fine,” Peter doesn’t realise he isn’t breathing properly until she says this, prompting him to gasp. When his breathing slows down a bit, enough for his head to clear again, he sits up. Clint smiles at him.

“We didn’t want to break her routine. Harley’s picking her up on his way back from school,” Peter nods. He begins to close his eyes, the panic he felt cutting down what little energy he had down to almost nothing.

“No,” Sam’s voice is still gentle as he taps Peter’s cheek. “Stay awake. I’m not getting told off by Pepper,” Peter blinks his eyes open, and when he is happy that Peter is awake, Sam steps away from him.

“Go and get changed. We’re going for a walk,” Natasha tells him as she starts to unwrap her hands. Peter groans again. Sam hums, and Peter can only just hear the teasing in the tone.

“We could go for a run if you prefer,” He muses. “I’m sure Steve and Bucky would be happy to go again,”

“Nooo,” Peter moans, reaching out to take the blanket off Sam. He just takes a step backwards.

“Come on, Pete,” Clint grabs his hand and pulls him to his feet, steadying the boy when he stumbles. “You need some fresh air. An hour outside, and Sam might even be nice enough to let you go into your lab for a bit,” He grins when Peter perks up a bit.

“Only if I can stay with you though,” Sam says, patting his shoulder and guiding him towards the door. “Make sure you don’t just go in there and nap,”

“Fine,” Peter huffs. He doesn’t object when Sam follows him up to his bedroom, waiting outside the door while Peter puts some clothes on. He rolls his eyes when the teenager comes out in a pair of sweats and another of Tony’s jumpers.

“All I’ve seen you in this week is Tony’s jumpers. Does he even have any left in his room?” Peter snorts as he follows Sam down and out of the compound. Nat and Clint are waiting by the door.

“He leaves them lying around the lab,” He shrugs. “It’s not my fault it’s always cold in there,”

* * *

“I swear to God, Peter,” Clint moans halfway around the park. He rubs his eyes. “I’ve raised two kids, and I have never heard them complain as much as you do about having to go for a _walk,_ ”

“I’m tired,” Peter whines. He drags his feet as he walks, trailing behind the three avengers at a slow pace. “And it’s so _cold,_ ” He’s still moaning, even as he tugs Clint’s jacket tighter around his chest. Natasha pulls a beanie out of her pocket and placing it on Peter’s head.

“There.” She says, pulling it down over his ears. “If I hear you complaining once more, I’m going to text Tony and tell him to lock your lab. And _then_ I’m going to text Pepper to secure it, so there is no way you can over-ride Tony’s lock,”

“That’s not fair-”

“Ah!” She slaps a hand over his mouth, laughing when she feels him frown. “No complaining. No negativity. Let’s talk about something fun!” She sighs and removes her hand when Peter raises his eyebrow at her.

“Fun?”

“Tell me what you’re working on.” Sam prompts. “What’re you going to do in your lab later if you stop complaining long enough to be let in?” He asks, linking his arm through Peter’s. Clint does the same on Peter’s other side.

“I’m making Leia a birthday present,” He says, smile growing on his face. Natasha falls into step beside Clint, linking their arms so they are all connected.

“When’s her birthday?” She asks, turning her head towards him.

“Oh, not for a few months yet,” He says. “March. But I wanna get it right and it’s taking me a while. Lots of codes and stuff, you know,”

“What is it you’re making her, then?” Sam questions.

* * *

When Harley goes up to Tony’s floor, Peter isn’t there.

“Where is he?” He asks, frowning, as he looks at Sam, Natasha, and Clint huddled on the couch. They all look up and smile. Leia is still sleepy in Harley’s arms, just having woken up from her nap.

“Oh, he’s down in medical with Bruce,” Nat says easily, waving at Leia. She waves back.

“He’s fine!” Clint reassures quickly, seeing the worry growing on Harley’s face. The teen lets out a breath.

“Why…” He swallows harshly. “Why is he in medical?”

“Hey,” Sam says softly. “He’s doing a lot better. Bruce is just checking it’s all out of his system,”

“Daddy’s better?” Leia asks, voice full of hope.

“Looks like it, sunflower,” Clint smiles. “He’s a bit tired, but he hasn’t had his nap yet today,”

“Daddy doesn’t have naps,” She frowns, confused. “He’s a grown up. Grown-ups don’t need naps,”

“What?” Sam looks up, gasping dramatically. “You mean we haven’t been looking after an over-grown toddler all day?” Harley laughs. “Nat, did you know this?” The spy just rolls her eyes, smiling when Leia giggles. She taps Harley’s cheek.

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“Snack?” She asks.

“Sure thing,” He nods and walks them towards the kitchen. “What are we fancying?”

He prepares her a yogurt and some fruit, sitting with her while she slowly munches away at it and talks about her day. She doesn’t notice when a body comes and stands behind her until there are hands on her shoulders.

“Hi, baby,” She squeals loudly, turning around to see Peter, freshly showered and looking a lot more alive.

“Daddy!” Is all she can cry out, before she bursts into tears. She stands up onto the table and throws herself at Peter, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle. “Daddy!”

“Oh, baby,” He coos into her hair, hugging her back tightly. He closes his eyes to stop his own tears falling. “I missed you, Princess,”

“Glad you’re feeling better, kiddo,” Harley smiles at him. He stands up to take Leia’s plate over to the sink, planting a kiss on Peter’s head as he passes. Peter’s cheeks are red. It’s definitely from the tears he’s holding in.

“I don’t think you’re qualified to call me ‘kiddo’, Harls,” He sighs, rolling his eyes. He’s still rocking Leia, even as he sits on the table, legs kicking slightly where they don’t quite reach the floor. “You’re only a few months older than me,”

“You’ve been a baby for the last few days. I think I can get away with it,” He smiles, turning back towards Peter and leaning against the counter. “And I didn’t even get a welcome. First time I see you in months and you throw up,”

“It was seeing your face,” Peter grins at him, laughing loudly when Harley splutters. “Enough to make anyone sick, really,”

“That is incredibly rude. Horrible.” Harley sniffs dramatically. “I bless you with my presence and you call me ugly.”

“Hey, I didn’t say _ugly_ ,” Peter corrects. “Leia, did I say Harley was ugly? See!” He cheers when Leia shakes her head.

“Harls said you were pretty,” She mumbles into his shoulder. It’s not muffled enough that Harley doesn’t hear it.

“I definitely did not say that.” He splutters again, coughing, face heating up. “What I said was-”

“’I know I’m not as pretty as Daddy is, but you don’t need to cry about it’, is what I believe you said,” Tony interjects from where he’s leaning in the doorway in a squeaky imitation of Harley. He cackles when Harley chokes and runs out of the room. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, too, underoos,”

“Thanks, Mr Stark,” Peter sighs. “I’m sorry-”

“Nope.” Tony cuts him off immediately. “You’re not apologising for being sick, Pete. Not your fault,”

“But-”

“Nope. I’m not having it. You’re being silly,” Tony shakes his head dramatically. “Leia, tell Daddy to stop being so silly,”

“Daddy’s no’ silly,” Leia says. Tony scoffs. “Love Daddy,”

“Daddy loves you too, Princess. And he missed you lots and lots and lots,”

“He did?”

“Of course he did. Was scared you were going to replace me, and Uncle Harley would be your favourite,” He pouts. Leia giggles and kisses his cheek.

“Harls doesn’t make pancakes right,” She tells him seriously. Peter shakes his head.

“Terrible” Peter mocks, shaking his head. “He leave out the chocolate chips, huh?”

“Uh huh,” She nods quickly.

“Well, it’s a good job Daddy’s all fixed, isn’t it?” She nods her head again, grinning. “Okay. How about we have pancakes for dinner, to make up for Harley being bad at making them. Then we can go and have story time and you can tell me all about play group, yeah? And then we can go to sleep, and we can spend _all_ of tomorrow together,”

“All day?” She looks up hopefully. Peter nods, smiling at her then turning to look at Tony.

“All day,” He confirms. “As long as Uncle Tony promises not to tell Aunt May we skipped school,” Leia pouts at Tony. He pretends to zip his mouth shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! thank you all for all the support on this series so far! it really means a lot to me.  
> if you wanna, you can come hang w/ me on [tumblr](http://prettymalfoy.tumblr.com). come chat/ask questions/gimme suggestions and stuff!  
> thank you for reading pals:)


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